Tip Of The Week

Tip of the Week

July 13, 1994

CLEAN, DON'T SUCK, A SNAKEBITE WOUND

Hollywood movie-makers would lead you to believe the best way to cure a snakebite is by cutting the flesh and sucking out the venom. This is a myth, says author and wilderness survival expert Buck Tilton for Backpacker Magazine.

The cut-and-suck technique will remove only a small amount of the venom. It will also produce a horrible wound that could easily become infected.

Applying a tourniquet and cutting off the blood circulation to the wounded area is also a bad move. Even if you're bitten by a rattlesnake, the odds of the snake injecting enough venom into your system to kill you are quite low. The impeded blood flow could do more harm than good.

The best way to handle a snakebite is to keep the victim calm, gently clean the wound, splint the bitten extremity and carry the victim to a hospital. If the person must walk, make sure he or she does it slowly.